PORT TOWNSEND — August’s Candlelight Concert at Trinity United Methodist Church will feature a variety of performers celebrating the life and songs of George and Ira Gershwin at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Nan Toby Tyrrell will perform several Gershwin melodies on the church’s Petrof grand piano, supported by an array of local musicians and vocal soloists.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. at the church at 609 Taylor St., across from the Port Townsend Community Center. Admission will be a suggested $10 donation; children will be admitted free.
All proceeds will benefit the Jefferson County Food Bank, and refreshments will be served after the performance.
Tyrrell said she has “chosen the songs which I feel embody the best of George and Ira Gershwin. I believe that their music epitomizes the joys and highs of being in love as well as the pain of losing that love.”
Tyrrell will play a medley of her favorite Gershwin songs, including “Shall We Dance,” “The Man I Love” and “Embraceable You.”
Her supporting musicians and soloists are well known in Port Townsend. Linda Bach has performed many soprano solos and duets throughout the years in recitals and benefit concerts. She continues to sing with RainShadow Chorale and Summertime Singers. Her performance at this concert will include two songs from Porgy and Bess, “Summertime” and “Bess You Is My Woman.”
Marj Iuro is a longtime member of the Wild Rose Chorale and a past member of the Community Chorus and RainShadow.
She is the choir director at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and loves to sing the occasional solo, too. Iuro will sing “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
Pianist Helen Lauritzen enjoys singing in RainShadow, accompanying singers and instrumentalists, and directing the local Threshold Choir, a group of women who sing to bring comfort to those who are ill or dying. Lauritzen will perform a Gershwin prelude.
Pianist Pat Rodgers is a member of RainShadow Chorale and Summertime Singers.
She enjoys accompanying singers and instrumentalists. She will perform several of her personal Gershwin favorites.
Tyrrell enjoys playing piano at San Juan Villa and Seaport Landing.
She also donated a piano to Jefferson Healthcare where she can play for patients and staff.
Tyrrell also is active in the community, tutoring children and leading creative art workshops.
For more information, call 360-774-1644 or email rdanpurnell@msn.com.
